The income-tax ombudsman in Mumbai has released refunds and other dues to taxpayers amounting to over Rs 660 crore, which had been locked up for various years due to red-tapism at the income-tax office. This is the largest amount distributed to taxpayers in a single year from the office of the ombudsman in Mumbai, a post created in 2007 by the finance ministry, for mediating between the I-T department and taxpayers and for settling taxpayers’ grievances in an amicable way.

A major part of the released amount was related to refunds. The refund settled by the ombudsman in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, 2011, amounted to Rs 537 crore. Of this, refunds were given out in 106 cases in the slab of Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000. Refunds have also been issued to 280 persons in the slab of Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Forty eight refunds have been given in the Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5-6 lakh slab, six refunds in the slab of Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh and 11 refunds in the slab of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore.

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